Global Voices Online

GoodAirs offers some analysis on Argentina's upcoming October 23rd congressional elections.

While comparative advertisement is illegal in Russia, using a generic product name featured in a competitor's advertising is not. Konstantin Dlutskiy reports on how this led to the birth of Ordinary Detergent.

the beatroot profiles also-rans from Poland's presidential race.

The latest blogcast at PolBlog hooks up with the beatroot to discuss the first round of the Polish presidential election..

Oneworld Multimedia reports on the use of pop music as an instrument of politics in Armenia.

azerbaijan.neweurasia.net reports on the week in Azeri election news.

After discovering that his roof is asbestos, Ara of Martuni or Bust!!! reports on the prevalence of asbestos in Armenian homes and the costs of replacing it.

Aníbal Freytes has two excellent ruminations on FBI's killing of Puerto Rican criminal and independence activist, Filiberto Ojeda Ríos.

Japundit reports on a move by the South Korean authorities to crack down on foreigners teaching English in the country with no qualifications, or with fake diplomas.

Simon World picks up on a new report from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) about the official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, which it says is one of the world's largest official propaganda machines.

Jeff Ooi rounds up, from a Malaysian perspective, the relief effort in the wake of the South Asian earthquake.

Yuga takes issue with a recent estimate from the Blog Herald that there are around 75,000 bloggers in the Philippines, promising to come up with some more credible numbers.

Burma Underground recommends a flash/photo show entitled Burma: Grace Under Pressure.

Gil C. Schmidt says Puerto Ricans are “enslaving” themselves by buying too many goods on credit.

Paras Indonesia posts a long essay deconstructing prevailing views of Bali as the “natural” location for Islamist suicide bombers to attack Western tourists in their reactions against the forces of imperialism. Kemal Taruc writes: “Many people may choose their preferred explanation as long as they can have peace in their mind.”

AsiaPundit defends his fellow hack Benjamin Joffe-Walt, saying the Guardian correspondent isn't reponsible for the beating of Hubei lawmaker Lu Banglie in the southern Chinese village of Taishi. But he also reports some of the angrier comments in the blogosphere and among other foreign journalists that are circulating about his conduct in the aborted reporting trip.

Liberians vote for a new president, and Chippla says that “an election in West Africa should be a thing of joy.” Who could have imagined this only two years ago when the dictator Charles Taylor was still in power, he muses.

Black Looks reports on the expulsion by Spanish authorities of a number of Senegalese migrant workers to Morocco. The move, which she says is illegal, has put the men at risk of further hardship and brutality. “The migrants are now trapped and cornered like hunted animals between the Moroccan desert and the Spanish enclaves of Cueta and Melilla on the coast,” she writes.

commentary.co.za posts an anonymous report about the incompetence of the Johannesburg police when answering an emergency call in which a child was at risk from a knife-wielding drunk, sparking debate and some recognition in the comments section.

The Passion of the Present calls on bloggers around the world to link to the Genocide Intervention Fund to help victims of violence in Darfur, reminding us that 2.5 million displaced people remain too frightened to go home, 3.5 million are in need of food, with the security situation sliding into chaos.

Emeka Okafor, of Timbuktu Chronicles, reports on the launch of a Linux operating system by the Ubuntu community, which believes that “software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit.”

Government neglect of millions of children affected by HIV/AIDS is fueling school drop-out across East and Southern Africa, Human Rights Watch says in a new report.

Black Star Journal writes of former Ugandan dictator Milton Obote, who died recently in South Africa, that his regime was “barely less thuggish than Amin's, but Obote was somewhat erudite and well-spoken so many outsiders never thought he could be as brutal as the bufoonish Amin.”

Samudaya.org has a post on the Media Control Ordinance passed by the King in Nepal. The post says -

…new ordinance bans any media company from owning more than two types of media and appears to be directed at Kantipur which has been severely critical of King Gyanendra's…

Rezwan translates a post that originally appeared on the LiveJournal Bangladeshi community. The post is a heartfelt post about the common person and the big politics.

Ahmed Bilal is very angry about politicians trying to gain mileage out of the Earthquake by blaming the government instead of focusing on the real issues.

Sepia Mutiny on Deepa Mehta's movie - Water being released after delays.

The Emirates Economist says that Dubai and Sharjah taxis have raised fares. Not surprising given the 35% increase in petrol prices.

nasimjo says that The Jordanian Royal Film Committee started to have shows outside Amman. He hopes to attend Jerash's show in order to report the reaction of the attendants.

Baghdad Dweller says that extreme right-wing trying aggressively to spread a myth that privatization is the ultimate solution to the Third-World countries economic problems, the same myth is also adopted by less-educated natives of these countries while the truth is upside down.

Ritzy is excited about the news of sending a new robot in to the great pyramid of Khufu (a.k.a Cheops) to reveal what is behind the mystery shafts. She says, maybe there is a chance that there is another burial chamber. Maybe Khufu's mummy is still in the pyramid.

The Glory of Carniola says that should Slovenia end up with a television station broadcasting live from parliament, there should be plenty of opportunities for entertainment.

the beatroot reports on Poland's presidential election which will be going on to a second round.

Martuni or Bust!!! reports on Armenia's role as a transit point for the sex trade.

Life in Armenia and Blogrel review the Yerevan discotheque scene.

Ben Paarmann discusses Eurasianism as Russian foreign policy.